Means for forming dropped loops in fabric blanks



R. ANKE July 29, 1958 MEANSTIFOR'FORMING DROPPED LOOPS IN FABRIC BLANKS Filed May 13. 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 V INVENTOR. m: h Aniye 0%..

ATTORNEY.

July 29, 1958 R. ANKE 2,844,951

MEANS FOR FORMING DROPPED LOOPS IN FABRIC BLANKS Filed May 13. 1956 3 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

a2 udol Ange 65 BY July 29, 1958 R, ANKE 2,844,951

MEANS FOR FORMING DROPPED LOOPS IN FABRIC BLANKS Filed May 13. 1956' L 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY.

United States Patent MEANS FOR FORIVIING-DROPPED LOOPS IN FABRIC BLANKS 4 Rudolph Anke, Reading, Pa., assignor to Textile Machine Works, Wyomissing, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 13, 1956, Serial No. 571,318

4 Claims. (CI; 66-89) This invention relates to machines for knitting fullfashioned garment blanks andmore particularly to means in suchmachines for fcrminga marking line in the garment blanks for a subsequent operation such as severing.

In the manufacture of full-fashioned garments such as sweaters, it isusual to knit the blanks constituting the rear and front portions of" the sweater in separate operations. In the so-called cardigan type sweaters, the front blank, after completion of the knitting operation, is severed along a walewise extending center line to form individual front halves and the raw severed edges of the halves are finished by attaching separate bindings which carry the buttons and the buttonholes respectively. Heretofore, this severing operation was time consuming and required exacting care in order to avoid fabric halves of uneven widths, which not only made it difficult to attach the members for the buttons and buttonholes but also resulted in the production of garments of inferior quality.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide afull-fashioned knitting machine with improved means for forming a marking line in a garment blank during the knitting thereof to facilitate subsequent dividing of the blank.-

A further object of the invention is to provide means in a full-fashioned knitting machine for cooperation with the needles to form a marking line in a knitted fabric which will not materially increase the cost of the machine.

A still further object of the invention is to provide in a knitting machine having means for fashioning fabric blanks, means for forming marking lines in such blanks which functions during fashioning cycles and without increase in the cost of producing the blanks.

With these and other objects in view which will be come apparent from the following detailed description of the. illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, the invention resides in the novel elements, features of construction and cooperation of parts, as hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is across-sectional view taken transversely througha full-fashioned knitting machine having mechanism a'ccording'to the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view on an enlarged scale of the mechanismshown in the upper portion of Fig. l and as viewed from the right of Fig. 1;

Fig; 3 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale takenalong the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view taken in the direction of the arrows 4-"4'onFig. 3;

Fig. 5' isa cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line S- -S of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6' is an elevational view partially in cross section taken in the direction of the arrows 6-6 on Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially 2,844,951 Patented July 29, 1958 along the line 77 of Fig. 2 and shown enlarged relatively to Fig; 2;

Fig. 8 is a plan view takenin the direction of the arrows 8-8 on Fig. 7, parts being broken away and shown in cross section;

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are diagrammatic views of the needles and narrowing points of the machine showing several of the steps necessary in the operation of the points to bodily remove the loops of a knitted fabric from the needles for subsequent transfer by the points to other needles as in narrowing and other loop transferring operations;

Figs. l3, l4 and 15 are diagrammatic views similar to Figs. 10, 1'1 and 12 showing corresponding steps in the operation of the special point according'to the invention to cause a loopto be cast from the needle on which it was formed; and

Fig. 16 is a diagrammaticview of a portion of a knitted fabric showingthe effect of casting off a loop as illustrated in Figs. 13 to 15.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, there is shown a portion of a full-fashioned knitting machine including a center frame 20 which is one of a series of similar center frames secured to each other in spaced relation by a front beam 21, a back beam 22, a center bed 25 and a front bed or table 26. The knitting machine may be of either the multi-section or single section type but suitably is the former. However, only a single section of the machine is described herein, it being understood that the other sections will be duplicates of that described. The center frames 20, beams and beds together with end frames (not shown) form the usual framework of the machine on which is supported a rotatable camshaft 27 and supporting means (not shown) for a needle bar 30 having needles 31. The needles 31' cooperate with sinkers 32 and dividers 35 which are'slidable in sinker-heads 36, a portion of which is shown in Fig. 10 and the needles, sinkers and dividers are operated by usual means (not shown) through knitting and' fashioning cycles to form selvaged fabric blanks, indicated diagrammatically at 37 in Figs. 10 to 16, such as for sweaters and the like in the usual manner.

In fashioning cycles the edge loops of the blanks are bodily removed from the needles 31 and transferred inwardly or outwardly to adjacent needles to narrow or widen the blanks. For so bodily removing the loops, the machine is provided with a narrowing or fashioning frame 39 having points 40 which are carried in outer combs 41 and inner combs 42 which are in turn secured to rods 45 which are mounted for sliding movement in brackets 46 (Figs. 1 and 2). The brackets 46 are secured in spaced relation on a shaft 47 which is held in fixed relation in the free ends of arms, one of which is shown at 51) (Fig. 1). The arms are in turn secured to a shaft 51 mounted for rocking movement on the center frames 21). The rods 45 with the combs 41 and 42 are rocked about the axis of the shaft 51 to move the points 40 in timed relationship to cooperating movements of the needles 31 to remove the edge loops from the needles on which they were formed and to deposit them on adjacent needles.

Briefly, in a fashioning cycle of the machine, the points 40 are lowered to engage the tips thereof in grooves 33 of the needles and cover the beards of the needles (Fig. 10) and then moved further downwardly with the needles to enter the loops, as shown in Fig. 11. The needles 31 continue downwardly and pass out of the loops leaving the loops on the points 40, as shown in Fig. 12, after which the points and needles, while substantially retaining their relation of Fig. 12, are raised until the. tips of the points are above the upper surface of knock-over bits 57. The points are then shifted sideways to adjacent needles. The needles and points then follow cooperating paths to place the loops on the adjacent needles after which the points are raised to inactive position for the start of the next fashioning cycle and the needles are moved to their normal raised position for the formation of a new course of loops.

The fashioning movements of the points are provided through a link 52 which is connected between the shaft 47 and a lever 55 pivotally mounted on the center frame 20 (Fig. 1). The lever 55 is operated by a cam 56 on the camshaft 27, the lever and cam forming a part of the usual mechanism for raising and lowering the points relative to the needles 31 which mechanism is fully shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 2,242,070, issued to J. Held, May 13, 1941. Each of the rods 45 are individually shifted endwise in the brackets 46 to move the points 40 and the loops engaged thereon to narrow or widen the fabric by fashioning nut devices, not shown herein but which may be of any conventional type. It will be recognized that the above description is of known features of a full-fashioned knitting machine and has been made to assist in an understanding of the invention.

In producing sweaters of both the pullover and cardigan types, the front and the back blanks are formed in separate operations and the side edges of these blanks are fashioned by the outer combs 41. The front blanks are additionally fashioned by the inner combs 42 to form V-shaped neck portions. In forming the cardigan type sweater, the front blanks are subsequently severed along a line corresponding to a central needle Wale and separate bindings are attached to the severed edges for the buttons and buttonholes in the usual manner. In order to facilitate this severing operation, the front blanks for cardigan type sweaters are intentionally marked by forming a wide wale through the dropping of the loops of a needle Wale throughout the length of the blank from the starting course to the course corresponding to the apex of the V- shaped neck portion.

For so forming such dropped loops according to the instant invention, a special point 60 is provided for engagement with the needle 31 at the center of the bar 30 which corresponds, or approximately corresponds, to the center needle of blank being knitted. The point 60 is carried in one end of a lever 61, the other end of which is pivotally mounted on a pin 62 secured in the free end of an arm 65 which in turn is secured to a shaft 66 for rotation therewith (Figs. 3, 4 and 6). The shaft 66 is rotatably carried in a bracket member 67 mounted on one of the brackets 46 located centrally of the needle bar. Lever 61 is also pivoted intermediate its ends, by means of a pin 70 to the free end of a bifurcated arm 71 pivotally mounted on a shaft 72 also carried in the bracket 67. Lever 61 carries a screw 75 for engagement with a portion 76 of the arm 71 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) whereby the relative positions of the lever and arms 65 and 71 may be ad justed to accurately position the point 60 for engagement with the center needle 31 as hereinafter set forth.

The point 60 is adapted to be moved from an active position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, in which position the point will engage the needle 31 when the shaft 47 is lowered, to an inactive position as indicated in dot-anddash outline in Fig. 3. For moving the point 60 between active and inactive positions, the shaft 66, and hence arm 65, are rotated by means of a handle 77 which is secured to the shaft (Fig. 2). The point 60, lever 61 and arms 65 and 71 are yieldably maintained in active or inactive positions by means of a detent device 80 associated with the shaft 66 including a collar 81 secured to the shaft and having parallel V-shaped grooves or notches 82 adapted to be engaged by ball detents 85 (Figs. 8 and 9). The detents 85 are seated in openings 86 one of which is shown in Fig. 8 in a member 87 slidably mounted on the shaft 66. The member 87 is biased toward the collar 81, by a spring 90 surrounding the shaft and positioned between the member and a collar 91 secured to the shaft, to yieldably maintain the detents in engagement with the notches 82. It will be noted from Fig. 9 that detents 85 are positioned at opposite sides of the shaft 66 and that both detents will engage in a notch 82 in either the active or inactive positions of the shaft. As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the member 87 has a forked portion 92 for engagement with a rod or shaft 95 also carried in the bracket 67, whereby the member is held against rotation with the shaft 66.

It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the point 60 is considerably shorter than the points 40 so that when the points 40 are lowered to engage and cover the beards of the needles 31, as hereinbefore set forth, the point 60, when in its active position, engages the beard of the center needle to press the tip thereof into the groove 33 of the needle, as shown in Fig. 13. At the time the points 40 have entered the loops of the fabric, as shown in Fig. 11, the tip of the beard of the needle engaged by the point 60 has passed through the loop on this needle, as shown in Fig. 14. As the needles 31 and points 40 continue downwardly to the position of Fig. 12, the center needle slips out of its loop and the loop is dropped as shown in Figs. 15 and 16.

It will be obvious that when the point 60 is in position to engage the center needle 31, the point will cause a loop to be dropped whenever the points 40 are moved downwardly to perform a fashioning operation on the fabric blank. Although fashioning does not occur in every course of a fabric blank, the fashioned courses will occur with suflicient frequency so that the normal tension applied to the blank will cause the loops formed in the severing wale in the non-fashioned courses to drop out. It will also be obvious that although only one point 60 is specifically described herein to cause a single needle wale to be dropped in forming the severing line, the width of the severing line may be increased, if desired, by providing additional points 60 in the lever 61.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described by which the above results are obtained, can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having spring bearded needles, a narrowing frame and means for operating said narrowing frame during fashioning cycles of the machine to engage and remove loops of a knitted fabric formed on said needles and for transferring said loops to adjacent needles to fashion the fabric, the improvement comprising means for causing at least one needle to drop its loop during a fashioning cycle including a point for closing the heard of said one needle without engaging a loop thereon, a lever on one end of which said point is mounted, a link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to the 1 other end of said lever, a second link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to said lever intermediate said point and said pivotal connection with said first link, and means for moving the pivotal mounting for said first link to move said lever and point between an active position, in which said point engages said one needle, and an inactive position in which said point is above and to the back of the needle.

2. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having spring bearded needles on which loops of a selvaged fabric are formed, a narrowing frame, means for operating said narrowing frame during fashioning cycles of the machine, points on said narrowing frame for removing selvage loops from said needles and transferring them to adjacent needles to fashion the fabric, the improvement comprising means on said narrowing frame for causing at least one needle to drop its loop during each of said fashioning cycles, including a point for engaging and closing the beard of said one needle, a lever on'one end of which said point is mounted, a link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to the other end of said lever, a second link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to said lever intermediate said point and said pivotal connection with said first link, means for moving said lever and links to move said point between an active position, in which said point is in position to engage said one needle when said narrowing frame is operated, and an inactive position in which said point is above and to the back of the needle, and detent means associated with the pivotal mounting for said first link for maintaining said point in said active and inactive positions.

3. In a knitting machine having spring bearded needles, a narrowing frame and means for operating said narrowing frame during fashioning cycles of the machine to engage and remove loops of a knitted fabric formed on said needles and for transferring said loops to adjacent needles to fashion the fabric, the improvement comprising means on said narrowing frame for causing at least one needle to drop its loop during a fashioning cycle including a point, a lever on one end of which said point is mounted, a link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to the other end of said lever, a second link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to said lever intermediate said point and said pivotal connection with said first link, means for moving said first link to move said lever and point between an active position and an inactive position in which said point is above and to the back of said one needle, and means for adjusting said lever and links relatively to each other to bring said point into engagement With said one needle when said point is in active position.

4. In a knitting machine having needles, a narrowing frame and means for operating said narrowing frame during fashioning cycles of the machine to engage and remove loops of a knitted fabric formed on said needles and for transferring said loops to adjacent needles to fashion the fabric, the improvement comprising means on said narrowing frame for causing at least one needle to drop its loop during each fashioning cycle, said means including a point, a lever on one end of which said point is mounted, a link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to the other end of said lever,'a second link pivotally mounted on said narrowing frame and having its free end pivotally connected to said lever intermediate said point and said pivotal connection with said first link, means for moving said first link to move said lever and point between an active position and an inactive position in which said point is above and to the back of said one needle, and means on said lever for adjusting the position of said lever and links relatively to each other to bring said point into engagement with said one needle when said point is in active position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

